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There has been a groundswell of interest in modernist architecture in recent years, particularly buildings from the second half of the twentieth century. Individuals and groups are engaging with modernist environments in the form of popular histories, documentaries and community projects, and digital and social media. Alongside this growing popularity however, many of these buildings are under threat from demolition and regeneration.

Modern Futures explores these trends, their connections, and how more popular and creative engagements might be used to inform the uncertain future of modernist architecture.

The site has been dormant for a while, mainly because we’ve been carrying on this work in the form of the Modern Futures network. However we are pleased to announce that a paper drawing on the research we conducted for the ‘Cultures of Architectural Enthusiasm’ project has just been published in the journal Geoforum. Title and abstract below.

Managing Enthusiasm: Between ‘Extremist’ Volunteers and ‘Rational’ Professional Practices in Architectural Conservation

Abstract

Recent geographical research has considered enthusiasm to be a shared passion and a motivator to action. Through the example of architectural conservation in Britain, and the activities of the Twentieth Century Society in particular, this paper examines the tensions between enthusiasm as a productive and positive affiliation, and enthusiasm as a negative, prohibitive, and at times extremist position. The paper makes three key contributions: firstly, it demonstrates how methodologically it is possible to trace enthusiasm, using ethnographic method to reveal not only what groups say they do, but also what they actually do. Secondly, it argues that enthusiasm is a productive but ambivalent term that creates tensions within organisations and societies where professional and volunteer roles are present. Thirdly, we show that even though enthusiasm has productive capacities, it also requires careful management, and on occasion denial. The tensions between enthusiasm and professionalism that we trace are relevant beyond the realm of architectural conservation and resonate with other groups comprised of volunteers and professionals.

In our project we’ve been thinking about the different ways that individuals and groups of people celebrate, campaign for and are generally enthusiastic about twentieth century architecture. Sometimes we’ve been asked if we are enthusiasts. I think I may have given myself away in the latest edition of The Modernist magazine. This is a publication I have been a fan of since its first issue.

In issue no.9 you’ll find a piece by me about Bayko – a building toy. So, yes. I am an enthusiast of twentieth century architecture in many guises. But one of my obsessions over the past year or so has been Bayko, or what I like to think of as suburbia in a box.

English Heritage announced today the decision to designate Preston Bus Station Grade II. Full details of the decision to list will be available tomorrow (Tuesday 28th September) from the English Heritage website.

Association of American Geographers’ Annual Meeting Tampa, Florida, April 8 to April 12, 2014

Recent years have witnessed an increasing popular and academic interest in architectural modernism, specifically its material cultures, associated political projects, and broader landscapes. This session aims to bring an international perspective to these debates by inviting contributors to examine the histories, politics and contemporary evaluations of the modernist project in diverse places and settings (architecture, design, interiors, town planning, institutions). Papers might consider modernism and its legacies in, for example, post-socialist spaces, The Global North and South, and wide-ranging post-colonial and post-imperial contexts.

Following on from our own work on modernist architecture in the UK, we are interested in drawing together papers that explore links to broader national and international ideologies of reconstruction, development, modernisation, and welfare, and the status of these modernisms today: how are they reappropriated, contested and valued (or not) in the twenty-first century as heritage, real estate, memorial, aesthetic, commodity? How has modernist architecture, design and material culture been subject to institutionalization as heritage, through national and international legislation and popular campaigning, to disinvestment and privatization through shifting political and economic contexts, and to commodification through popular cultural forms?

Themes and topics to explore include:

Architectural styles and materials

Modernism as heritage

Preservation, conservation and legislation

Reuse and re-appropriation

Demolition

Domestic spaces

Problematic legacies

Campaigning and activism

Commodification

Popular cultures of modernism

Public and private space

Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words to Hannah Neate (hneate@uclan.ac.uk) by Friday 11th October 2013.